The long lost son

Eli Grant’s unexpected arrival in Salem isn’t the welcome home he’d expected

- EMILE BUTLER-O’BRIEN

Lamon Archey admits that his character Eli Grant is an angry young man when he arrives in Salem this fortnight. “He has been lied to all his life and now he wants answers,” says the actor who took up the role in the US in 2017. And Eli is about to get what he’s looking for when he crashes David Banning’s (Gregg Marx) memorial. Eli’s mom Valerie (Vanessa A Williams), who dated David back in the day, didn’t think that Eli would be at the service because she’s kept a secret from him: David is his father!

SURPRISE!

“What are you doing here?” a baffled Val asks her son. Without skipping a beat, Eli replies curtly, “I’m here to bury my dad.” Viewers will see both shock and horror wash over Valerie’s face as she realises that the one thing she’s done her very best to hide from Eli isn’t just out in the open, he is fully aware.